With the Benefit of Hindsight...

Annette's Fancy Fleur De Lis is a work of art.  It's hard to believe that she feels that her work wasn't up to par on this because believe me it is!   She's used iridised glass throughout this piece and although you can see it in the purple it's only barely evident in the green (in the picture-- in real life it's VERY obvious).  I love this and I think it looks amazing.

 

 

Jan got her Santa Claus Panel completed in plenty of time for Christmas this year and he's as cute as a button. She omitted the polka dots in his hat which the original pattern called for and I actually think it makes Santa look so much better because in all honesty, who ever saw Santa wearing a polka-dotted hat???

And Susan R finished up her second Flower Pot Ornament. She's got these down to a science now and actually enjoys making them which is more than half of the battle when it comes to creating stained glass.  Another good job indeed.

 

 

Betty has her Lighthouse Panel well under way now that she has the border attached to it. She wasn't sure what color it should be but we all agreed that it shouldn't be anything bright since the scene itself as is set at night. That ruled out the yellow that Betty originally planned to use. In the end going back to red was the best looking option. Expect to see this completed when Betty returns.

 

 

 

Kandise has decided to make one of our many Birds in a Wire patterns and settled on one of the larger versions which means that the birds are actually resting atop a post. The larger pieces will make this easier to do because the hardest part with these 'Birds in a Line' patterns is always the eyes-- Those little, teeny, tiny eyes!

 

 

 

With the border now firmly attached to her Louisiana Collage Window, Lara spent her night soldering and almost got the front side completed. There's only the smallest bit left to go in the middle of the window near the tree which means that she'll be soldering the back side when she returns. This is very near completion now.

 

  

 

Lorrie is at about the halfway point in her cutting and grinding of her phenomenal Sugar Elephant Window.   Now, I've been calling it a Sugar Elephant Window because the flowers and colors that decorate the two elephants resemble sugar skulls but I got to wondering why they are are actually called 'Sugar Skulls' and looked into it. It turns out that Sugar skulls were originally made by mixing granulated sugar, meringue powder, and water to create a moldable dough which was then pressed into skull-shaped molds and left to dry. Once hardened, various colorful icing, sequins, beads, and foil were used to create intricate designs. Now that I know this, calling Lorrie's Elephants 'Sugar Elephants' is  perhaps a bit misleading or even a misnomer, but I do believe that it gets the point across due the the similar style.

 

 

 

 

And Lorrie's Underwater Fish Window has been worked on (for the most part) at her home since it is VERY large and hard to transport back and forth. That said, now that everything has been cut and ground we may see this back in the shop shortly. I must say that her work is astounding here!

 

 

 

And since we just looked at an underwater scene let's look at the progress that Sheri has made on her Koi Fish Window (which also features fish under water). With each passing class Sheri gets closer and closer to getting all of her pieces ground. You can clearly see the what the window will look like now that there are so many pieces fitted into place. She's taking her time and the way her pieces fit together proves that slow and steady not only wins the race but also gets you a gorgeous window as well!

 

  

 

Zoe's Duck Panel has all of the hard pieces cut and ground with only the sky and the leaves left to go.   I removed the Dragonfly in the pattern because I was concerned about the large open area in the window and I think I may ask Zoe if she wants to place another Cat Tail in the upper left.  It would only require two more pieces and could possibly provide more balance to the overall scene.

 

 

 

Melissa has made short work on her Bluey Window as she got her border cut, ground, foiled and attached. Not only that-- she's also managed to solder the front side as well. She will get a zinc channel around this when she comes back in and I'm positive that she will be taking this home with her as a finished piece after her next class.  

 

  

 

 

This is our second Fancy Fleur De Window for the week and this one is being made by Martha. She got everything foiled in this last class and will tack and solder this when she returns. I still don't know whether she'll make this a window or a large hanging suncatcher but the answer to that will reveal itself next week.

 

 

 

Shelley's  Toots Tribute Window is all cut and ground and ready to be wrapped and foiled.  There's a border left to be cut but as our students and long time readers know, that doesn't take long to assemble at all.  Sometimes picking the color for the border takes more time than actually cutting, grinding, foiling and tacking takes longer!

 

  

 

Like Sheri's Koi Fish Window, you can judge how far Ann is coming along by looking at the pieces that rest on top of the ground pieces of her background.  There aren't many 'layers' to this now which means that the majority of this has been fitted into place.  It won't be long now until this Cross Window is completed and Ann begins her next project.

  

 

 

And with all of that said and done I can safely say that it's time to roll the credits!

Paul
Bayou Salé GlassWorks

It's Bubblewrap Not Gunfire

And just like that, Kandise completed her second (and final) Corner Accent Piece.  It's a mirror image of the first one that she made and the pair is going to make a lovely addition to whichever room she decides to hang these in (she's currently unsure). I think it's safe to say that Kandise agrees with me when I say that I have no problem making a single item but the second time around the same block can sometimes be a long haul because I'll be desperate to move onto something new.  That said, Kandise did a great job on this and her skills just keep getting better and better.

Betty is the first out the door with our new Cross Design.  This is a popular image during Lent and Easter. The cross itself represents the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for humanity while the cloth draped over it represents the shroud or burial cloth that wrapped Jesus' body. Betty's 'cloth' was cut using iridized white that you can only barely see in the photo below but which adds so much to this suncatcher.

 

 

 

Linda F's Bird of Paradise Window needed a background and once that was selected she made short work of cutting it out.  She then moved on over to the grinder and got a good deal of the bottom of the window ground.   At this rate this flower will be ready to be foiled after her next class.

 

Now that her Fractures and Streamers glass has arrived Lara has resumed work on her Louisiana Collage Window. Lara got her background pieces cut, ground and attached and then she selected a border and got it ready for grinding and foiling. As you can see, her window has really come together nicely and THAT'S what I call progress! 

  

 

We haven't seen this for a while now but Lorrie's got close to two thirds of the water now cut and ground for her Underwater Scene Window. It looks as though she'll be ready to solder this sooner than I ever would have thought because she's moving through it like a shark through water.

  

 

 

And Lorrie isn't content with working on just one window. She's also working on her Sugar Elephants as well! She's been working from right to left and she's just getting into the Large elephant now. This fits together wonderfully and it's looking rather magnificent if I do say so myself.

 

  

 

 

No, you haven't seen these Festive Fleur De Lis' before even though you may think that you have.  Annette is the person who started the ball rolling with this now popular pattern and she doesn't have just one under construction-- like Lorrie she has two items in the works!   One of them had been ground and is almost completely wrapped in foil while the other is awaiting a trip to the grinder.  She may not have been around for the past few weeks but Annette has certainly been busy working at home!

 

  

 

Our next Festive Fleur De Lis is being made by Cindy and with all of her pieces cut out she's only got a few pieces of border glass left to grind. I love the different color schemes that we are seeing in these. They are certainly similar but also most certainly distinctively different.

 

 

This next Festive Fleur De Lis is Martha's unique interpretation. Again the pattern is the same as the others with her colors beginning completely different. Martha has gone with a more colorful center which is bordered by a solid yellow making this the third distinctive version on a similar theme this week.

 

  

 

 

Zoe's Duck has been ground and foiled which means that she's ready to tack this together. Once that's done she won't have to worry about pieces of feathers shift all around as she grinds the water, leaves and sky pieces into place. In other words, things are going to be easier for Zoe now that the small pieces have been secured.

 

 

 

Let came in and set her Rooster Window that she had ground and tacked together while at home onto the table and then proudly exclaimed that she now officially liked her window.  Last week she was sort of up in the air about it but she said that the turning point came when she was able to hold this up to get some light behind it.  Once it was lit up Let was able to feel good about the work she had put into it.  That means that although you may think this looks great now, just wait until you see it hanging up.

 

 

 

Bee is VERY close to finishing her Tribute Window as all of her pieces have been cut and ground. She's also selected the perfect border glass and got that cut out into its various lengths. She'll skim those, wrap them in foil and then begin soldering! She's also thinking about adding a Dandelion center in the clear textured pieces by using etching cream to forma dense center in the textured glass. I think it's a great idea and we'll see how that turns out when (and if) Bee decides to go that route.

 

  

 

With all of the pieces of her Rounded Cross Window ground (save for the border which we always do AFTER the center has been tacked together) Barbara has taken this home so she can wrap it in foil and then tack it together. Once that is done she'll fit the border into place and this will be ready to be soldered.

 

  

 

MiMi has almost all of the glass cut for her lamp with only some green left to go. That means that she's cut out three pieces of almost all of the pieces that you see in the lamp pattern below. The green only takes up a half a square foot of glass so I'm sure that she'll have that cut out upon her return.

 

  

And that as they say is that!

 

Persistently yours,

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

 

He's My Favorite Shadow Daddy

Let has made a wall clock that I haven't seen done in literally decades!  I used to always have two or three of these on the wall in the store when I was in PA and for good reason-  people loved them and they always sold well.  Let's version absolutely reveals why this was so popular.  The only thing she isn't thrilled with is the size of the hands that came with the clockwork so she may replace them with larger hands.  Nonetheless, this is stunning!

 

 

 

Linda F put her own spin on a popular Tuesday morning pattern. Instead of using all textured clears Linda has opted to use color and it works wonderfully! In fact, seeing this made in color makes it even resemble Frank Lloyd Wright's Tree Of Life even more, which is a very good thing.  And let's not forget to mention that her border glass choice is perfect!

  

 

 

Mary Grace completed her Initialed Baseball which will be displayed in a stand as a table piece.  Now that this is finished she'll be moving along to three different Volley Ball's with initials.

 

 

 

Betty made this Cross and Dove Suncatcher in just one class. She's made more than a few of these in the past so that's probably why she's got this pattern down to a science and can make it so quickly.

 

 

 

Susan R's first Flowerpot Ornament was completed this week and she was well underway on soldering her second one when she packed everything up and headed for home. Expect to see a second nearly identical version of this very shortly.

Zoe is cutting out her Duck Panel and is trying to bring a nice balance between artistic expression and reality into the mix. I believe that her duck looks great so I think she's hit upon a perfect harmonious blend of colors here.

 

 

 

Melissa's newest window can be found in the cartoon series 'Bluey'.  This is going to be a gift and it is featured prominently throughout the cartoon as it resides in the room that Bluey and Bingo share together.  Melissa is making short work of this as she got it all cut and ground in just one night and that is no mean feat! 

 

 

 

Susan has her Texas Longhorn all ground now and for its picture below she's placed it under the 3D wire frame that it will eventually hang behind. The wire frame is nice on its own but I have to admit that it really comes to life with the glass behind. Or at least it comes to life as much as a piece of skull art can!

 

 

 

Martha is working on a multi colored Fleur De Lis using a Mardi Gras color scheme.  In just one night she's managed to get all of the pieces to this cut out and I have to say that her cutting is wonderful because none of the pieces that you see in the picture have been ground even though it might look as though they have been.

 

  

 

 

Next we see that we have two of the same patterns being made with two very different methods of making them. Cindy goes for the 'grind as you cut' method so although she has fewer pieces of glass cut out than Martha does, Cindy's are already ground. 

 

  

 

 

Linda L's Mickey is looking great and there's no mistaking the pool vibe that this mouse exudes. Yes, his hand looks a little off but that will be completely fixed once some wire work is added to his hand. With her background now cut out Linda will next begin grinding and then tacking this together.

 

 

 

With all of the pieces to her Multi-Colored Elephant cut and ground, June has begun the fine art of foiling! At least this part of the building process is relaxing because you get to sit down and take your time while you are doing it. June's grinding skills have come along nicely because everything here fits together like a two peas in a pod!

 

  

 

 

Fill-ins. That's all that's left to cut here in Bee's Dandelion Tribute Window. There are just the flower stems left to go and then she can get a border on this and begin soldering.

 

  

 

 

This week Judy got her Carousal Horse all wrapped and tacked and which means that she can next grind her background pieces for a perfect fit.   Tacking the horse together before grinding the background ensures a nice snug fit for all of the pieces and prevents the pieces that make up the horse itself from slipping and sliding while she grinds her background. 

 

  

 

 

Let's Rooster Window is shaping up to be a beautiful piece of art indeed.   With all of the glass (save for the border) cut out she's begun foiling her pieces so that she can tack it all together and then get her border cut.  Expect to see that happen when she returns next week.

 

 

Ann got a lot of grinding accomplished on her Round Cross Window. you can clearly see the cross this week which means that there aren't many pieces left to go before she starts foiling all of this glass.

 

  

 

 

There's only one piece of glass missing in the 'motor' portion of Cheryl's Harley Davidson window which means that she will be moving over to CYCLES very soon now.  It may have taken some time for her to get this far but it's not about the destination-- it's about the ride!

  

 

Lorrie just couldn't have her baby elephant headless so she finished the cutting and grinding on that part of her Sugar Elephants Window and will move on back to her underwater scene when she returns.

 

  

 

MiMi managed to get four more egg cartons of glass cut out thus ending the cutting for her background glass pieces.

 

  Easter eggs, 

Pretty and funny

But where, oh, where

Is the Easter Bunny?

 

  

 

And Lara is about to begin work on this round Bird Window featuring a male and a female Cardinal.  However, before that happens Lara will return to her Louisiana Collage Window now that we have the background glass for it.   Expect to see that in out next post.

  

 

And with that, like a unicorn, I'm off to spread my magic elsewhere!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

Well That Sounds Vaguely Ominous

Lara's Books and Flowers was a n idea from a similar design that she saw on the internet however that version was surely going to fall apart due to all of the hing points and straight lines throughout the piece.  We took the idea and 'sturdied' it up by adding flowers and repositioning books and pages somewhat leaving us with this very rugged version that Lara did excellent work on!

 

 

 

Kerry has completed his LOVE Window just in time for Valentines day to the delight of Jeanne who, I believe from the post that she made, loves this window.  People often ask how you get the word LOVE into the glass not realizing that it's simply the result of well placed lead lines. 

 

 

 

This week we get to see a new Cardinal design that Cindy made.   The key feature to this one is the extensive wire work that gets accented with little glass beads on their ends along with a looping wire that forms a heart on the breast of the bird.

 

 

Does anyone here remember good ol' Two-fer Betty? This week she's Four-fer Betty as she wrapped up the work on four Silverware Dragonflies and four Cardinals as well. Yes, I know you can only see two of each but trust me when I say that there's more that I just didn't take pictures of.

After finishing her Seagull and Sunset Window Zoe decided to make a small Duck Window.   She didn't care for the idea of the dragonfly in the upper corner of the window so Zoe is leaving that out of her finished version.  I wouldn't be surprised if she has this all cut out upon her return because she certainly got a good head start on it in just one class.

 

 

 

Barbara really made some fantastic progress as she managed to get all of the background glass and the cross ground for her uniquely shaped Cross Window. In fact, it fits together so nicely that you can't even tell that there's any water glass at all in the picture below!

 

 

Susan D was grinding away at her Texas Longhorn Skull and only has a few pieces left to go before she begins wrapping this and then finishing it off. There's some beautiful work here and I love how she's positioned the grain of the glass throughout this.  It matches up but doesn't align perfectly which is actually perfect for a window like this.   It's even given me an idea for a pattern that I hope to make in the months to come.

 

 

 

Cindy has begun work in earnest on her Fancy Fleur De Lis. Whether this ends up as a stand alone hanging or a window will be interesting to see. If she chooses a stand alone hanging then the straight line across the 'band' of the Fleur De Lis will need to be addressed or else this will surely split into two pieces. As a window though, well it will be completely solid.  If she chooses the stand alone version  I believe I've come up with a simple elegant solution to handle the situation.

 

  

 

June is a beast! Her Multi-Colored Elephant has been completely ground and it looks GRRRRREAT!  The eyes still have to be cut but in all honestly they are are simple enough to be left out and added as an afterthought (as well as the tusks). That said, I have no doubt that they will be filled in when we see this again.

  

 

 

With the first of her two Flowerpot Ornaments all soldered and ready for staking, Susan R will be ready to take this home when she returns to grace one of her flower pots.   And do you see that 'pile' of glass on the upper right of the picture?  That's her second ornament all foiled and ready to be soldered.

 

  

 

As I edited Linda's Mickey picture last week I noticed that Mickey's face had been cut out of white glass which made him look more than a little ashy.   I figured I'd say something to her when she returned to class but before that happened Linda texted me and asked why I didn't tell her that Mickey looked like a ghost! Now I have to say that sometimes things slip by me in person but then they become apparent when I edit the pictures that I take each week.   That said, I'm glad that Linda discovered the problem on her own and when she came back in I saw that she had already re-cut and ground Mickey's face.   Now that he's been tacked together Linda is ready to cut out her background!

 

 

 

I know that it's hard to see in the small picture here but if you click on it you can see the first sheet of glass that MiMi traced the background pieces for her lamp on.  There's another sheet of glass about half this size with even more pieces traced upon it and I will bet dollars to doughnuts that MiMi will be cutting a lot of tiny BG pieces upon her return!

 

Judy's Carousel Horse is almost completely ground and she's following a very important stained glass rule:  Never grind the background glass until the subject has been ground first.   And that's just what Judy did here.  The bright green background will be cut AFTER she tacks this together with solder.

 

  

 

 

The Cross in Ann's Cross Window is a bit obscured by her background pieces but you can see that she's making excellent progress grinding her BG pieces starting with the right hand side. As the background gets ground more and more of the cross will be revealed until this is ready to be foiled.

 

There's an interesting story that belongs to Linda F's Flower Of Life Window this week. She came in needed a border and after we cut the strips we discovered that something was VERY wrong with her window because the measurement across the top was larger than the bottom measurement by a whopping half inch! It seems that when I drew this for her I somehow mis-marked a measurement. Luckily we managed to fix it by grinding the difference off of the angled panel and then swapping that center panel to the end.  By the time Linda left we had fixed the issue as well as added the perfect border to this.  And that goes to show you that even perfect Paul can make a mistake. Very rarely though-- very, VERY rarely! 😊

 

 

 

Shelley's Cat Window is coming together and now that Toot's eyes have mostly been cut out she'll be able to correctly position them and cut them into place. I always make eyes separately and then tack them into position because it prevents grinding errors from making the subject cross eyed.

 

  

 

Week by week, piece by piece Sheri gets a little closer to the end of her large Koi Fish Window.  She's still not sure what color the heads of these fish will be but she's carefully considering that problem as she works on the sections that she IS sure about.

 

  

 

 

Let was so very close to completing her Stained Glass Clock that it was it was a bit upsetting to NOT get a finished picture of it. When class was over all she had left to do was to wash and color it after which she'd attach the clock work to the back. She has send me a picture of the clock face after she washed and colored it at home but I didn't want to share that with you this week only because I want you all to be amazed at just how lovely this finished piece is when we return next week.

 

 

 

 

Lorrie's baby elephant in her 'Sugar' Elephant Window is coming together quickly.  She's adopted the Grind-As-You-Cut approach and when you cut this perfectly I never complain about that.  She may very well go back to her Under Water Scene next week now that the glass for her water has arrived so it may be a few weeks before we see the baby elephant gets his head attached.

 

  

 

With the front side of her second Corner Accent Soldered there is no doubt that Kandise will have this completed when she leaves next week.  Once the soldering on the back side gets done she'll get some hooks on this, wash it all up, color it. 

  

 

With essentially only fill-in's and the rose in the center of the cross left to cut, Bee is fast approaching her endgame on this piece. It's been a labor of love all the way through and the love is going to be thoroughly apparent in the end result.  This will be a tribute window made with love.

 

  

 

Lastly we look at Cheryl's Harley Davidson Window. She's got most of the MOTOR section ground now but will need to cut out the center of one of the 'O's that apparently got lost in the shuffle. It won't be long until Cheryl moves on down to the word CYCLES after which the rest of this window will be easy curves with a few straight lines.

 

 

And there you have it!

 

Toodles!

 

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks